adminthis year’s tough FIA African Rally Championship series when they take part in next month’s Kobil Rally of Tanzania.
The Kobil Rally of Tanzania, which will run from September 2 to 4, is the sixth round of the FIA ARC series in which Rautenbach and Whyte are both fighting to be crowned as the 2011 African motor rally champion.
Rautenbach is currently sitting at the top of the 2011 ARC Drivers’ Standings with 93 points after the first five rounds of the championship series which were held in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Zambia, Kenya and Uganda.
The 26-year-old talented driver is 17 points clear of his second-placed fellow countryman Whyte who is the defending African motor rally champion after winning the title for two years on the trot in 2009 and 2010.
In this year’s ARC series, Rautenbach and Whyte have faced each other four times in opening four rounds of the competition in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Zambia and Kenya.
And in those four meetings, Rautenbach has beaten Whyte thrice, at home in Zimbabwe, in South Africa and in Zambia as he took control of the championship race.
Whyte, however, gained some measure of revenge over Rautenbach during the fourth round of the 2011 ARC series – the KCB Safari Rally of Kenya – in which he came home ahead of his young Zimbabwean rival.
In the KCB Safari Rally of Kenya, which was held during the weekend of June 17-19, Whyte finished fourth overall while Rautenbach came home in sixth place.
Although Whyte came fourth, he was classified as the first ARC-registered driver home in Nairobi and this saw him narrowing the gap between him and Rautenbach at the top of the ARC Drivers’ Standings to 17 points.
But Whyte missed a golden opportunity of dislodging Rautenbach at the top of the standings when he failed to last the distance during the fifth round of the series – the Pearl of Africa Uganda Rally – which was held in the East African country last month.
Rautenbach opted to miss the Pearl of Africa Uganda Rally in favour of the VW Rally, which was held during the same weekend in South Africa.
In Uganda, Whyte was well on course for another ARC win until gearbox gremlins forced him out with three stages to go.
His retirement was indeed Rautenbach’s delight as this saw the latter retaining his 17-point lead at the top of the ARC Drivers’ Standings with three more rounds to go in Tanzania, Rwanda and Madagascar.
And Rautenbach and Whyte are now preparing for another fierce showdown in the Kobil Rally of Tanzania from September 2 to 4 in the East African country.
According to reports from Dar es Salaam, the two Zimbabwean drivers have already confirmed their participation in this event in which they will join a host of other foreign drivers.
In fact, 11 foreign drivers, including Rautenbach and Whyte, are reported to have already confirmed their participation in the Tanzanian event.
Rautenbach is expected to add some flair to the event after confirming his participation on Wednesday.
The Zimbabwean is one of the leading drivers on the continent and according to reports from Dar es Salaam, his presence in the sixth round of the ARC series would give Tanzanian drivers a tough time.
Iringa-based rally hero Ahmed Huwel of Tanzania will also make a return after announcing retirement.
He told a Tanzanian newspaper, The Citizen, yesterday that his decision to come out of retirement was inspired by the participation of the Zimbabwean star – Rautenbach.
“Rautenbach is one of the drivers everyone would want to compete against due to his prominence in the world.
“He is why I decided to make a comeback,” said Huwel who races in Subaru N11.
Other top African drivers who will give the Tanzanian stars a hard time include Ugandan “daredevil” Ponsiano Lwakataka, Whyte of Zimbabwe and fast driving Madagascar duo Frederic Ratomanga and Jan Yves Ranarivero.
“We are ready for the showdown and hopefully we will pull the biggest upset to the acclaimed drivers,” said veteran Tanzanian driver Kirit Pandya whose best performance in the continental class event is fifth position in the 2005 Kenyan event.
The Zimbabwe flag-bearer Rautenbach, who made his international debut in 2006, will this time around race in the ultra fast Ford Fiesta S2000, the only car make in the competition so far.
2011 ARC Drivers Standings
1.Conrad Rautenbach (Zimbabwe) 93
2. Jamie Whyte (Zim) 76
3. Alain Dethise (Burundi) 25.
Online Reporter